HarperCollins has finally closed their acquisition of Thomas Nelson, first announced at the end of October 2011, following a lengthy examination period by the Department of Justice. Harper says “Thomas Nelson will continue to operate as an independent company with its unique editorial focus on inspirational and Christian content. Details, such as how Thomas Nelson will benefit from HarperCollins global print and digital platform, will be forthcoming.”
Archives for July 2012
McGraw-Hill Files SEC Documents on New Education Company
McGraw-Hill has filed the first extensive SEC document (formally a Form 10) providing disclosure and details about the proposed spinoff, freestanding McGraw-Hill Education company. Once the spinoff is completed, they intend to list the new shares on the NY Stock Exchange–like the current listing–and will trade as MHED. Shareholders of record of the current McGraw-Hill stock will receive one share in the new education company for every three shares they hold. McGraw-Hill Education had 2011 sales of $2.292 billion–down 5.8 percent from the prior year–with directly attributable net income of $162 million. For the first quarter of 2012, sales for […]
Ingram’s Vital Source Pairs with Blackboard for Broad eTextbook Offering
Ingram’s Vital Source unit will work with Blackboard, the leading education learning management system (LMS), for an expanded electronic textbook offering. Blackboard will incorporate the Vital Source etextbook platform, comprising over 80,000 titles, directly into their LMS, giving students and faculty easy access. Vital Source coo Kent Freeman says in the announcement, “With the integration, there would be no extra software for users to install, no separate logins and passwords to remember. You get immediate access to the digital copies of your textbooks, and they are an integral part of your Blackboard Learn courses.” Faculty will be able to select […]
eNews: Kobo to Launch Italian Platform With Mondadori; eBook Sales and Expectations Up in Germany
As previously promised, Kobo will officially enter the Italian market “this fall”–the news is that they will do so through a partnership with Mondadori, “Italy’s leading retailer, and publisher of books and magazines.” Mondadori will sell the Kobo Touch online and through 400 stores at 99 Euros and promises to offer over 30,000 ebooks in Italian. Kobo will join Amazon’s Kindle, Google Play and the iBookstore, all of which have started selling ebooks in Italy over the past year. For Kobo, it will be the fifth store in a language other than English, joining operations in France, Germany, Holland and […]
People, Etc.: Hartmann New Bertelsmann CFO; Seale Steps Down From RH Australia
Bertelsmann has hired Judith Hartmann as cfo, starting some time prior to the end of the year, filling the past that was held by Thomas Rabe before he became CEO at the beginning of 2012. Hartmann is currently cfo of GE Deutschland and will also become a member of Bertelsmann’s group management committee Andrew Hodder-Williams is rejoining Lion Hudson–where he started his career almost thirty years ago–as publishing director, starting August 6. Since 1997, he has worked as a publishing and telecommunications consultant for KPMG Consulting and Atos, as well as working as an independent consultant. Nick Jones has taken the role […]
With Comments on DOJ Proposed Settlement Still Unavailable, Kohn Tells Court the Government is Violating the Tunney Act
June 25 was technically the deadline not only for public comments on the Department of Justice’s proposed settlement with Hachette, Harper, and Simon & Schuster, but also for Justice’s publication of those comments along with their replies. But as of Tuesday morning, more than two weeks after the deadline, there was no sign of any of these comments on the DOJ’s website. Even though the government now has one extra week–until August 3–to file its motion for entry of a proposed final judgment on the settlement, the opportunity for Judge Denise Cote to evaluate that voluminous number of comments shrinks […]